Mobilization
Mobilization (alternatively spelled as mobilisation) is the act of assembling and readying military troops and supplies for war. The word mobilization was first used in a military context in the 1850s to describe the preparation of the Prussian Army.[1] Mobilization theories and tactics have continuously changed since then. The opposite of mobilization is demobilization.
This article is about military mobilization. For other uses, see Mobilization (disambiguation).
Mobilization institutionalized the Levée en masse (engl. mass levy of conscripts) that was first introduced during the French Revolution. It became an issue with the introduction of conscription, and the introduction of the railways in the 19th century.
A number of technological and societal changes promoted the move towards a more organized way of deployment. These included the telegraph to provide rapid communication, the railways to provide rapid movement and concentration of troops, and conscription to provide a trained reserve of soldiers in case of war.
History[edit]
Roman Republic[edit]
The Roman Republic was able to mobilize at various times between 6% (81–83 BCE) to as much as 10% (210s BCE) of the total Roman population, in emergencies and for short periods of time.[2] This included poorly-trained militia.
Modern era[edit]
The Confederate States of America is estimated to have mobilized about 11% of its free population in the American Civil War (1861–1865).[2] The Kingdom of Prussia mobilized about 6–7% of its total population in the years 1760 and 1813.[2] The Swedish Empire mobilized 7.7% in 1709.[2]
Armies in the seventeenth century possessed an average of 20,000 men.[3] A military force of this size requires around 20 tons of food per day, shelter, as well as all the necessary munitions, transportation (typically horses or mules), tools, and representative garments.[3] Without efficient transportation, mobilizing these average-sized forces was extremely costly, time-consuming, and potentially life-threatening.[3] Soldiers could traverse the terrain to get to war fronts, but they had to carry their supplies.[3] Many armies decided to forage for food;[3] however, foraging restricted movement because it is based on the presumption that the army moves over land possessing significant agricultural production.[3]
However, due to new policies (like conscription), greater populations, and greater national wealth, the nineteenth-century army was composed of an average of 100,000 men. For example, in 1812 Napoleon led an army of 600,000 to Moscow while feeding off plentiful agricultural products introduced by the turn of the century, such as potatoes.[4] Despite the advantages of mass armies, mobilizing forces of this magnitude took much more time than it had in the past.[5]
The Second Italian War of Independence illustrated all of the problems in modern army mobilization. Prussia began to realize the future of mobilizing mass armies when Napoleon III transported 130,000 soldiers to Italy by military railways in 1859.[5] French caravans that carried the supplies for the French and Piedmontese armies were incredibly slow, and the arms inside these caravans were sloppily organized.[6] These armies were in luck, however, in that their Austrian adversaries experienced similar problems with sluggish supply caravans (one of which apparently covered less than three miles per day).[6]
Not only did Prussia take note of the problems in transporting supplies to armies, but it also took note of the lack of communication between troops, officers, and generals. Austria's army was primarily composed of Slavs, but it contained many other ethnicities as well.[7] Austrian military instruction during peacetime utilized nine different languages, accustoming Austrian soldiers to taking orders only in their native language.[7] Conversely, in an effort to augment the efficacy of the new “precision rifle” developed by the monarchy, officers were forced to only speak German when giving orders to their men.[7] Even one Austrian officer commented at Solferino that his troops could not even comprehend the command, “Halt.”[7] This demonstrates the communicative problems that arose quickly with the advent of the mass army.
Economic mobilization[edit]
Economic mobilization is the preparation of resources for usage in a national emergency by carrying out changes in the organization of the national economy.[18]
It is reorganizing the functioning of the national economy to use resources most effectively in support of the total war effort. Typically, the available resources and productive capabilities of each nation determined the degree and intensity of economic mobilization. Thus, effectively mobilizing economic resources to support the war effort is a complex process, requiring superior coordination and productive capability on a national scale.[19] Importantly, some scholars have argued that such large scale mobilization of society and its resources for the purposes of warfare have the effect of aiding in state building.[20] Herbst argues that the demands of reacting to an external aggressor provides a strong enough impetus to force structural changes and also forge a common national identity.[21]